Field of the Invention
The current invention is in the field of instant messaging, more specifically instant messaging augmented by a plurality inline interactive objects that provide capabilities far beyond those found in ordinary messaging applications without the user having to leave the message application.
Discussion of the State of the Art
On the Internet, including the World Wide Web (the Web), content is stored on servers and usually accessed by a client application such as a browser running on a mobile or fixed device. Advances in wireless communication technology have led to a convergence of sorts, as now wireless subscribers can access and receive web content via a mobile device such as a cell phone. Wireless web access is typically accomplished using a specialized browser like application on the mobile device. The subscriber must subscribe to web services through a wireless service carrier such as a wireless phone company, or be connected to the Internet by either a wired or wireless connection.
Currently, content is delivered to the user by any of various means, including, but not limited to, a web browser, a messaging client, email clients, a specialized mobile application specific to the task of interest. This paradigm now extends to digital wearables such as the Apple Watch or Pebble devices. If the user requires client-side programming—commonly called a web application—said programming often consists of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript delivered to a web browser for local execution and supported by server-side Web services. The other typical option for client-side programming is to for a developer to create a custom client-side application for a given interaction. In the past, companies have created applications that can be embedded in emails and directly executed, one such product went by the trade name of Zaplets, which ran on non-mobile devices. Email, being an asynchronous form of electronic communication, is fundamentally different from “instant” messaging, which is a synchronous form of communication.
All current messaging options suffer from a fundamental weakness: the user does not have a seamless experience where an application and a conversation that employs the application exist within one user space. A conversation is, instead, typically a linear stream of text messages, photos, videos, and possibly other simple assets. To utilize any more complicated applications or capabilities, the user is instead required jump from one application to another external to the messaging conversation and is unable to easily share and interact with other users on the same task.
What is needed is a system and method for the creation, embedding, and use of application programs in the conversation contained in a messaging application (a synchronous communication method vs. an asynchronous communication such as email), creating a new generation of flexible computing platform on which robust and complete user experiences and solutions can be created to solve many problems in many different domains by any party, much like a computer operating system enables other programs to be installed and run. To date, the solution to these problems has been to either add fixed widgets to the messaging application's conversation or to rely on external disconnected applications outside of the messaging application to create a solution. This solution brings the application programs directly into and in the context of the conversation, creating a seamless solution. From the user's perspective, a conversation becomes a linear stream of text messages, photos, videos, and other assets with the addition of inline interactive objects that may look and act like individual applications but are, in fact, an integral part of the conversation and communicate with identical or similar applications on the devices of other participants in the messaging conversation so that all see the same information in the same context in real time and can interact with that information. In essence, a new custom engine to communicate and/or solve a problem is created by each new conversation as the members of that conversation discuss a problem, share information in an unstructured form, add appropriate inline interactive objects to share and collaborate on mutually managed, structured information.